At the End of all Things
by BrynMryddin
Summary: She hadn't expected the world to end while she was on a camping trip... but that's just how it happened. Now after hearing the last words of a dead girl and finding a dude with an arrow through his side... well, it's not like she can survive the apocalypse on her own. Pairing decided but not focus. OC with a slightly different outlook and moral spectrum then our crew. Enjoy!
1. The Ends Begining

So plot bunnies are attacking but not for the story that everyone wants me to update.. URGHHHH. Anyways, I just needed to start this so I'd at least stop thinking about it! Enjoy~

* * *

In the end, it was quiet.

She honestly thought there would be more drama, smog filling the sky, sirens blaring, the whole nine yards. It might have been like that somewhere, but it sure wasn't here, in the godforsaken backwoods of Georgia she thought as she listened to her surroundings perched on a medium height tree branch. Noise of any kind was the enemy now, for that what brought _them_ , the fucking _zombies_ that had suddenly sprung up out of nowhere and ambushed her and her family in the middle of the fucking woods.

Camping was supposed to be fun, a great activity that doubled as a visit to some cousins who lived in Atlanta. It wasn't supposed to be the last time she saw him, it wasn't supposed to be a _bloodbath_. And all around, no matter where she wandered to, ducking in and out of places and scavenging what she could, did she see the slightest hint that things would be getting better anytime soon.

A scream pierced the low hum of forest activity.

She had given up on following screams weeks ago. However this one was different, tilting her head she confirmed it, it was a kids scream with no adult accompaniment.

She heaved herself off the breach and landed as quietly as she could. She didn't run, but the fast stalk through the trees she had recently adopted set a respectably brisk pace towards the source of the noise. Another scream, and the groaning the signaled at least one of those _things_ and she abandoned caution to run to where she saw a little figure wrench herself away from two hulking monsters.

Drawing the machete she had strapped to her waist she moved to quickly dispatch the two zombies as the kid fell to the ground and attempted to scramble as far away as it could. Turning, she saw the kid was a girl, young – a preteen at most- with a huge bite in the side of her neck.

"I am so sorry" she felt the words leave her, a plea for forgiveness at her inability to save her, if she had just run _faster-_

"You helped me." The kid was crying, holding on to where she was bit and looking at her sad gratitude of someone who knew their savior came too late. The bite wasn't deep, but it would kill her, a slow death sentence.

"Yeah, well… us girls have to stick together." She tried to lift her mouth in a mockery of a smile, but it didn't really work as she crouched down nearer to the girl "My names Isla, what about you?"

"Sophia." The girl –Sophia- responded to Isla as she relaxed more, no longer trying to get away from the older girl.

"And where're your parents Sophia?" She couldn't have made it this far by herself, unarmed and weak as she seemed to be.

"I don't know! I got lost! I have to find my Mom!" Sophia started to tear up again and the excitement made her neck bleed faster.

"Hey, hey, it's ok, I'm sure she's around here somewhere." Empty words, Isla hadn't seen or heard another live human in days.

"I need to say goodbye…" kid was taking it like a trooper at least, her neck had to be in a lot of pain and she was going to die with Isla who she just met, no moms or dads present.

"I'll tell her" more empty words she couldn't seem to stop saying… Isla was blaming it on the fact that Sophia reminded her so much of her niece who had been 8.

"You will? You'll tell her I said goodbye? That I love her?" Sophia started to sob, heaving as tears streamed down her face and the reality of her situation really set in and she awkwardly crawled over to Isla who hesitantly placed an arm over her shoulders. The blood loss and trauma were starting to make themselves known, it wouldn't be long before Sophia passed out and would never wake up.

"Yeah, if I find her, I promise." Isla affirmed, she honestly didn't think she'd ever be able to keep that promise, but what else would she have said?

"Ok…" her voice was faint, Isla looked down only to see Sophia's eyes drooping, and for the 2nd time in the past few weeks, she had another person dying in her arms "Thanks Isla…"

They stayed like that for a while, the forest quiet and devoid of any zombies for the moment. It must have been half an hour later that she felt the last breath leave Sophia before she stilled, dead.

"Sorry Sophia, you seemed like a good kid." Was the best eulogy Isla could give as she pulled out her smaller camp knife and quickly stabbed up through the back of her head, preventing her resurrection.

Isla couldn't rationally spend the time to burry Sophia, not with night closing in and being on her own, the best she could do was cover her body with leaves and place it under a bush in the faint hope it would be too old for the zombies to be interested in when they found it.

She adjusted her pack before moving on, the run earlier having jostled around some of her supplies and making it dig uncomfortably into her back. With that fixed, she set out, night was setting in soon and she needed to find a decent tree to climb, she was alone again.

* * *

The following days saw her scavenging from some empty houses she came across as she drifted through the woods, finding the trees to generally have fewer walkers then the empty streets. Survival, it was really all that mattered now, and dwelling on those she had die, family or not, was not going to help her eat. So with that mindset she had set Sophia to the back of her thoughts, she had to keep going and with each death witnessed the little voice in the back of her mind saying ' _give up, let go'_ got a little bit louder.

a little while later saw her sitting by a stream eating a small package of nuts and berries she had grabbed from the last house she raided when the sound of… horse hoofs came closer and closer.

"Sophia!" a man's voice echoed through the woods and had her tensing, searching for the telltale sign of any walkers who had to have heard the shout. She was relatively hidden behind some outcroppings of rocks and roots, enough that he _probably_ wouldn't see her just passing by. The horses scream though, that scared the shit out of her as she vaguely saw the horse rear up and throw the man who proceeded to fall down the bank and stab himself in the side with one of the arrows he had on him.

It was impressive, the crossbow he was carrying that is. She knew it took some major arm strength to use something like that, and it seemed to be his main form of protection. But that was rather beside the point, she supposed…

He hadn't gotten up yet.

He was a lucky fucker to have landed face up, and not in the main part of the stream, she'd give him that. Going over after a few minutes confirmed that yes, he actually was still breathing… and now that left her with a decision.

She could strip him of his things, leave him for dead, maybe even kill him herself… and if she was being honest, a large part of her was screaming at her to do so. She had seen few other survivors over the past weeks, but for the most part, they were not the kind of people you wanted to meet alone at the end of the world.

Ultimately, looking down at him, she noticed he was relatively clean (unlike her) and despite his hillbilly redneck look, he was outfitted nicely and definitely hadn't been starving. She wanted to take the bow, she wanted to kill him and be on her way before any of his friend came because at first glance, he looked like trouble… but his voice kept niggling at the back of her head.

 _Sophia_

There couldn't been that many lost girls in the backwoods of Georgia with that name, which told her that this man was not alone. There was the mother somewhere in the equation, and probably others too if he had left her alone to search for the kid with a _horse_ of all things.

No one had ever described her as the trusting type, but neither had they ever called her dull. She knew she would only get so far alone, already the isolation and paranoia were eating at her and she hadn't slept more than a few hours in days… furthermore, it probably wouldn't be long before one of those unfriendly wanderers caught her unawares, and she really didn't want to dwell on what that would mean.

But this man was decent enough to look for a young girl lost in the wood days after it happened. He had to have a base camp, others to watch it, and access to some supplies if the absent horse was anything to go by.

Sighing she knelt by him, and for the first time in weeks, she didn't follow the instinct to cut and run. Instead she dropped her pack on a dry part of the riverbed and dug out the med kit she had been saving for an emergency…

Looks like she had an arrow to dig out, and an introduction to plan that wouldn't end with her dead.. And if it didn't work out?

Well,

It's not like she had much to live for now anyways.


	2. Crossbows equal Trust

His side hurt. That was the first thought that crossed Daryl's mind as he drifted awake, blinking at the harsh sunlight hitting him in the face. The second thought was much clearer and urgent…

'What the fuck happened?'

He bolted upright (or tried to really) and grabbed for his bow as his side screamed in protest, swinging his head around looking for walkers. It was then he noticed the other person sitting a few yards away, covered in blood and grime with two walker bodies around her.

"Woah buddy. Take it easy." She muttered, lifting her hands in a peaceful gesture.

"Who're you?" he demanded vertigo crashing over him as his torso swayed, barely keeping him upright.

"Ramsey." Her eyes were on him, trained on the bow that he had pointed at her "I'm the one who saved your ass." Her hands gestured to the walkers around them and then his side. He took a quick glance down, vision swimming in pain. The arrow was still in his side, but around it were fresh bandages and there was cloth around his side, securing the bolt in place.

"Thanks." He muttered through the pain, eyeing her still, waiting for any sudden movements

"Y'know I left the crossbow with you as a sign of trust." The girl deadpanned, "I mean seriously."

"The fuck kind of name is Ramsey?" Daryl questioned, ignoring her jab as he lowered the bow, relaxing slightly but ready to aim again if needed.

"My last one" god she had to be a teenager with that kind of snark, he would bet money. It also is what made him fully put down the bow, he may have only been looking for Sophia, but he wasn't going to not bring this girl back, especially since she was alone.

"You alone?" he had to ask, as he tried to recover more of his bearings, his side hurt like a mother and his head wasn't much better.

"Yeah." He almost missed the way her eyes hardened, but he noticed "you?"

"…Yeah" he knew the look, she knew the answer before she asked, lying wouldn't help, even if he was inclined to at the moment, which he wasn't. A wide grin stretched across her face, even under the dirt and blood it made her look like a mischievous pixie… he blinked at that thought, he really _did_ hit his head.

"Lemme guess…" he fixed her with the hardest look he could muster at the moment which wasn't as intimidating as he would have liked "you wanna go with me?" her grin sharpened and the hard look came back into her eyes.

"is that an offer?"

"'suppose it is." He grunted as he tried to get up, only to fall back to his knees, vision graying at the edges. The girl – Ramsey- scrambled up and over to him, hauling one of his arms around her shoulder and helping him get to his feet.

"Thanks kid." he mustered up as they began walking towards where the cliff stopped being a sheer drop.

"No problem old man."

* * *

She honestly hadn't expected that to go as well as it did, but she was glad for it. Even the faint promise of a somewhat decent group had her feeling lighter than she had since this whole thing had begun. She had almost forgotten what it was like to talk to another person, let alone banter. Now all she had to do was make sure that the dude –still no name forthcoming- didn't die before he managed to get them back to his camp.

It was a slow process walking back. He was heavy, and with the wound in his side he leaned heavily on her as then made their way back to wherever he came from. It took even longer when they encountered a group of three zombies and she had to leaving him to deal with them… well two of them. He got the last one that had bypassed her in favor of him with a quick knife to the skull, swaying dangerously as he yanked it back out.

They made good time afterwards though, both running on Adrenalin from the encounter that started to fade as they saw the tree line in the distance.

"That's it." He jerked his head and she could just make out fences and fields past the trees. The relief however, caused her muscles to tremble helping hold up the heavy man, and he wasn't doing much better in the face of trauma and blood loss. The both staggered on though, coming out into an open field as their legs threatened to give out, as if the forest had stolen the last bit of energy they had.

He leaned even more on her, causing her to stagger as she tried to keep them both upright while he seemed determined to move forward no matter what. They hadn't made it very far into the field before she could hear shouts in the distance, but really couldn't make out what they were saying over the man's heavy breathing. Looking up she turned toward where there were people running towards them weapons out, and she was going to ask the man to do something before there was a sharp whistling sound and pain bloomed from the right side of her face causing her to lose balance, falling with the man coming down right on top of her.

Her head hit the ground hard and despite the cushion of her backpack the man fell right on her stomach forcing the breath out of her. Head swimming and in pain she barely registered the shouting from the people suddenly surrounding them, slowly blinking she tried to make out what the man leaning over her was saying over the roaring in her ears before her vision suddenly blacked out and she passed out cold.

* * *

Consciousness came back to her slowly, critical thinking even slower. She knew that her face hurt, her arm was at an awkward angle and starting to hurt, and that she wasn't alone. Two men were in the room with her, and one was shaking her shoulder which was what had woken her to begin with.

"Hey, Ramsey, wake up." The lighter haired man who was shaking her spoke first as the dark haired one watched her warily.

"huh?" was all she could garble before a coughing fit wracked her body causing her face to hurt even more. The lighter haired one grabbed a glass off the nightstand and helped her take a few sips as her arm was apparently zip-tied to the bed

"What's your name?" The darker haired one demanded once the other had placed the glass down again.

"Ramsey" it was stupid maybe, to be so insistent on her last name, but for some reason she couldn't get over the fact that it might be the only thing left in the world that was really hers. Both the men gave her a hard look before the lighter man continued.

"And why'd you come in with our guy _Ramsey?"_ his face was blank but he gave off an unimpressed air, waiting for her response with hawk like eyes, the other man was much the same

"I watched him fall off that horse he was riding… tried to help with the wound and stuff when I saw that he was still alive…. I figured if he was with a group is he was just out like that… and I've been alone for a long time." Her explanation halting as she tried to piece together something non-threatening for the people who had her tied to a bed, voice getting fainter with emotion as she got to the ending admission. Both men didn't change their faces at all, still suspicious.

"Yeah, but why _him_? He don't look like much" the darker (and seemingly more aggressive one) demanded leaning forward over her in a domineering way. She licked her lips, eyes darting between the men as she resigned to show her last card and hope it would be enough.

"Because he was looking for Sophia." The reaction was instantaneous, their eyes widening and bodies tensing as the darker one leaner down and grabbed her shoulders tight enough to hurt.

"Where is she?!" he practically shouted as the other barked at him (Shane apparently) to let her go but making no move to really enforce the demand.

"I-I found her days ago, she was bit before I got there – Her neck- and… and I stayed with her 'til she was gone…" she closed her eyes as the memories flooded her mind again "I didn't let her turn either…"

Both men had looks of resignation as she informed them of Sophia's fate, Shane even loosened his grip and she continued

"I heard your man looking for a 'Sophia' and I figured that if he was from a group who would look for a lost kid, well, there were worse people I could have met." Her eyes hardened at what was left unsaid as she remembered all to clearly some of the people she had barely managed to avoid as the weeks had gone by, even trapped in this bed being interrogated was better then what could have happened.

Shane left almost immediately after, Rick not far behind, leaving her in the room alone while she heard shouts and then crying from outside the room.

Waiting another few minutes to see if anyone would come marching in she relaxed back against the bed. No matter what happened next, she still was more secure than she had been in weeks, and that made her drop off before ten minutes had even passed.

* * *

The group at this point was pretty wary of strangers I think, but she wouldn't get Randall's treatment because so far, she's proven to be friendly and pretty non- threatening – so far.


End file.
